PCOS

I have PCOS and have for years and I have lost weight several times. The key is to listen to your body and stay away from sugars. Right now I am trying Slimfast to help with consistency and losing the weight and I have so far lost 6lbs this last week.

My wife has PCOS and has been successfully losing weight. Ultimately, the fundamentals of weight loss with PCOS is the same as for everyone else: eat at a calorie deficit to lose weight. Some women with PCOS do have a slower metabolism than non-PCOS women, so they have a lower "calories out" based on daily activity that you may need to account for in adjusting your calorie goal if you are finding that you are not losing weight at the MFP recommended levels. Some women also find a benefit to moderating their carbs, however the only way weight is lost is by a calorie deficit, so moderating carbs alone won't necessarily get it done.

I think ultimately she's found that her body doesn't handle weight loss fundamentally differently than a non-PCOS woman. Rather the symptoms of PCOS made sticking with a weight loss plan difficult. If she was always in pain and tired all the time, it made it hard to go to the gym. If her blood sugar was dropping because she didn't have a meal soon enough, it made reaching for the most convenient option appealing, rather than choosing something well planned that fit her diet.

She's made some successful adjustments. One is prep cooking on Sundays, which is usually the day that she is best rested and has the most energy for it, to help prepare healthy meals for the week. She also found a gym she really likes that gives jump rope classes, that she enjoys going to. That helps her muster up the energy for it. I of course help her as best as I can with doing meal planning and shopping and things that she doesn't always have the energy for.

She is down 15 pounds so far, and while she does try to moderate carbs to a certain degree, she is not low carb by any means. She is doing it with portion control and exercise.

PCOS is a hormonal imbalance and we tend to be hungrier than other women hence why we eat more. Focus on whole foods high in fibre, fat and protein. A lower carb diet helps to bring insulin levels down so I would recommend 100g of carbs a day. You can still enjoy enough carbs through out the day. 45g of oatmeal has around 20g of carbs and it’s high fibre. Legumes and beans are also great sources of carbs and protein. Have avocados, peanut butter and nuts and seeds. Greek yoghurt is also great. Basically if you had 1700 calories a day for example you could fit a lot of whole foods in there plus a small treat if you want such as chocolate for 100 calories. You don’t have to deprive yourself. Exercise is also great for general health. I would recommend strength training even with dumbells/body weight exercises at home. I have PCOS but it hasn’t stopped me from losing weight. It does make it harder though but definitely possible.

I have PCOS and have lost 31 lbs in four months. This is the most successful weight loss effort I've ever had, and the key has been staying away from carbs. I'm vegan, so I certainly still eat them, but I've cut way back on frequency and portions are always small with refined carbs. I use a typical 50-30-20 macro diet. I net around 1450 kcal/day, and will increase that to about 1600 when I hit 180 lbs. My goal is 160.